Sept.
27, 1999 Carroll County says it will be Y2K ready – Boris Hartl, Carroll County
Times
First
published Monday, September 27, 1999
Carroll
says it will be Y2K-ready
Contingency
plans protect Maryland jurisdictions from lawsuits
By
BORIS HARTL Times Staff Writer
Officials
from Carroll County's eight municipalities and the county government said they
don't expect the Year 2000 bug to be a problem, provided local power companies
can supply them with electricity on Jan. 1, 2000.
Baltimore
Gas and Electric says not to worry. Robert Cornelius, BGE's Year 2000 program
manager, said the company has been Y2K-compliant since June 30. A spokesman for
Allegheny Power, which supplies power to the western half of Carroll County,
said his company is immune to the so-called ``millennium bug.''
Carroll's
eight incorporated areas - Hampstead, Manchester, Mount Airy, New Windsor, Sykesville,
Taneytown, Union Bridge, and Westminster - have either adopted Y2K-compliance
plans or are close to doing so.
The
county commissioners approved a county government year 2000 compliance plan Wednesday.
``We're
in good shape,'' said Union Bridge Mayor Perry L. Jones Jr. ``We’re not as
large as the other municipalities so there wasn't as much work to do.''
The
General Assembly passed a law last year that protects local governments, under
certain circumstances, from lawsuits and liability for damages arising from
year 2000 problems, as long as those municipalities adopt a Y2K-compliance plan
by Oct. 1. The plan must outline what those municipalities have done to
identify and remedy potential Year 2000 computer problems.
Mount
Airy Mayor Gerald R. Johnson estimates that by the end of the year, the town
will have spent about $10,000 on Year 2000 preparations. The money was
partially spent buying new computers, software, and some backup power
generators for the sewer systems.
The
Union Bridge Town Council could adopt its Y2K-compliance plan at its Monday
night meeting, Jones said. The town has upgraded its computer systems and has
installed backup generators for its water and sewer systems.
The
New Windsor Town Council passed its Y2K-compliance Plan Sept. 1. The Manchester
Town Council adopted its Y2K-compliance Plan at its Sept. 14 meeting. The town
is in the middle of installing generators at two well sites.
As
part of the town's emergency preparedness plan, Sykesville officials have
created a Y2K contingency task force. The will purchase a police generator for
the police department.
Sykesville's
Town Council is scheduled to review its Y2K contingency plan at its next meeting,
which is set for 7 p.m. today.
Taneytown
received a $10,000 grant from the state to help the city upgrade its accounting
and computer software and make it Y2K-compliant. That was taken care of a month
ago, said City Manager Chip Boyles.
City
officials are in the process of buying a generator to run a couple of different
water wells should the electricity go out Jan. 1, Boyles said.
Generators
are also on stand-by at the sewer treatment plant, he said.
Extra
policemen and utility workers will be on hand New Year's Eve in the case the
power does go out or other problems arise, he said.
Boyles
said that if for some reason they do lose power, water and sewer services will
still be provided.
But,
Boyles said, he's confident Taneytown's electricity source, Allegheny Power, is
Y2K-compliant and won't have any problems.
Hampstead
officials could not be reached for this report.
The
Westminster City Council could approve its Y2K plan at its meeting tonight.
Copies of the plan are available at City Hall, located at the 1800 block of
Emerald Hill Lane.
Allen
Staggers, an Allegheny Power spokesman, said the power company will staff extra
employees to handle complaints and questions during the holiday season. BGE
will do the same.
``We
don't anticipate any Y2K problems; we are more concerned about the typical
outages during the day,'' Staggers said. ``Anyone at anytime could be out of
power. We'll make the extra effort and respond to all the typical outages. We
don't want people to [mistakenly] think it's Y2K when it's not. That's our
biggest fear.''
Staff
Writer Stacey Ward contributed to this report.
Copyright
© 1998 Carroll County Times
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